Lang Ping has confirmed she will not return as China women's volleyball head coach, choosing to rest and enjoy private life after devoting decades to the sport.
Is Lang Ping really not going to be the head coach of the Chinese women’s volleyball team anymore?
Earlier, during an exclusive interview on CCTV, the microphone was handed to Lang Ping, and she was asked just one question: whether she would be willing to serve as head coach of the Chinese women’s volleyball team again. Upon hearing this, Lang Ping smiled and shook her head.
When
this response was made public, many fans of the Chinese women’s volleyball team were quite surprised. As a key member of the team that won five consecutive world titles in the 1980s, Lang Ping had already helped the team secure numerous world championships—including the World Cup, the World Championships, and the Olympics—during her playing career, making her an iconic figure embodying the spirit of the Chinese women’s volleyball team;In 2013, she was called upon to take the reins of the Chinese women’s national volleyball team once again. Under her leadership, the team won three major world championships—the 2015 World Cup, the 2016 Rio Olympics, and the 2019 World Cup. This return to the pinnacle of the sport has earned her immense respect among volleyball fans,and many have hoped she would return to coaching the team.
Few people realize that over the course of her decades-long career in volleyball, Lang Ping has long been plagued by a host of injuries.The years of high-intensity training and competition during her playing career, combined with prolonged, excessive workloads during her two coaching tenures, have led her to undergo multiple medical procedures, including hip and knee replacements and cervical spine surgery. The repeated rehabilitation processes have drained her of considerable energy, and her physical condition has long been unable to withstand the high-pressure demands of serving as a professional team head coach.
Now
in her sixties, she is no longer able to shoulder the heavy pressure of leading a team to achieve top results. She no longer needs to set rigid goals for herself to win medals, nor does she need to arrive at the training ground at dawn to oversee her athletes’ training, much less stay up late analyzing her opponents’ game footage over and over again.Now she can finally organize her life at her own pace. Having worn her hair short for most of her life, she is slowly letting it grow out and caring for it with great attention; in her spare time, she practices Pilates. These small daily pleasures—which she had no time for while coaching—have become the peaceful moments she now cherishes most.
Lang Ping, who has devoted most of her life to Chinese volleyball, now simply wishes to enjoy her private life in peace. In the future, if anyone calls for Lang Ping to return to coaching, perhaps we should add a word of advice: letting her rest and recuperate is the most genuine way to thank her for her many years of dedication.
